Elena Elkina -- Privacy and Data Protection

Protecting data from attackers does not answer every question about privacy. Elena Elkina joins Chris and Robert to explain the relationship between privacy, security, and customer data protection, drawing on her legal background and personal experience growing up under surveillance. She describes how different people and organizations understand privacy and why transparency about data use matters alongside technical safeguards. Robert brings a developer’s perspective, and Elena turns the conversation toward the influence engineers have on privacy through product design and requirements. They explore the communication gap between precise technical decisions and the contextual answers privacy teams often give. Elena’s closing advice is straightforward: build relationships with privacy and security colleagues so that protecting people’s information becomes a shared design responsibility.The Application Security Podcast is brought to you by Security Journey.About Security JourneySecurity Journey provides application security education for developers and everyone in the software development lifecycle.→ Learn more about Security JourneyConnect with Elena Elkina:→ Elena Elkina on LinkedIn→ Women in Security and PrivacyMentioned in this episode:→ Women in Security and Privacy→ Leading Women in Technology→ 23andMeFollow the Application Security Podcast:➜ Home➜ X➜ LinkedIn➜ YouTube➜ Instagram➜ FacebookChapters:00:00 Privacy and data protection with Elena Elkina01:57 Elena’s path into privacy03:48 How personal experience shaped her perspective05:53 What privacy means to different people07:26 Business use of data and transparency11:02 Privacy compared with customer data protection12:45 A developer’s view of privacy15:45 How developers influence privacy through design18:54 Bridging technical and privacy conversations19:58 Building relationships with privacy and security teams